Safety device for gasolene-motors.



R. l. BRADBURY. I SAFETY nevica fon msouuf; morons. APPLICATION FILED AI. I2. l9|`4. 1,144,101, PatentedJune 22, 1915.

IIIIIIIIII UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIcE.

BOY J. BRDBUBY, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOB Ol' TWO-FIFTHS T0 ANDREW JACKSON, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

SAFETY DEVICE FOB GASOLENE-MOTOBS.

Speeiileation of Letters Patent.

Patented June 22, 1915.

To all whom it may concern lBe it known that I, ROY J. BRADBURY, citizenof the United States, residin in the city and county of Denver and tate of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Gasolene-Motors; and I do declare the f ollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descrlption of the invention, such as will enable others skiled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawlngs, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of'thls specification.

My invention relates to improvements 1n means for automatically indicating the amount of lubricating material in the crank case of an internal combustion engine. It is exceedingly important that the depth of oil in this case should be sufficient to allow the outer extremity of the pitman and the wrist pin of the crank to enter the oil as 1t reachesthe outward limit of its stroke during each rotation of the crank. Under ordlnary conditions, this oil is liable to become exhausted or so nearly so that the pitman will not enter it, and in this event, the parts of the engine will not be properly lubricated,

resulting in great injury to the mechanism.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, no absolutely reliable provision has been made for overcoming this diiiiculty. Y

In m improved construction, I `provide an auxi iary receptacle so, arranged and' connected with the crank case that the oil rises inthe auxiliary device to the same level as in the said case.H Within this auxiliary receptacle is locatedv a float which rises and` falls with the oil within the receptaclev and:

consequently withthe level? of' the loilI in the case. This float may "be made of any7V suitable material. I'f madehollow, itmay consist o sheet metal, as Yaluminum.- In any event, the 4float is-bicumferentally to, receivea Y videdfady a aptedl'to' be sprung into the groove in theiy oat," whereby, as 'the float rises andI falls,x the rin also. has a correspondi'ng movement. lie. alxxiliararl recepf. tacle in which the float is located' is provided with three s et-,of--I contacts locatedv at'fdiffer-l ,ent elevations within the receptacle. lr.Ehe

uppermost set o'jcontacts is djbyv the ring of the floatwhen thel oil is at its nory oovedl ringin'etal ring whic is di-jf' mal or maximum level within the tank. These contacts are connected with a white light which is conspicuousl arranged on the machine as upon the dash oard in front of the chauffeur. When the oil falls below the normal or maximum level whereby the metal ring is disengaged from the uppermost set of contacts and engages the set next below, the white light will be extinguished and the circuit will be completed through a red light from which the chauffeur will know that the oil is getting low within the case and needs replenishing. If, however, this fact is not observed by the chauffeur or if by reason of carelessness on his part the oil is not replenished but continues to fall still lower, the ring of the float will become disengaged from the contacts through the medium of which the circuit is completed through the red light and the ring of the float will be brought into engagement with the lowermost set of contacts, in which event the red light will also be extinguished and the circuit in which the magneto is located will be short circuited through the ring of the float and consequently will not pass through the`vr the electric clrcuits employed in connectionv with my improvement. Fig. 2 is a sectional view: in detail of the auxiliary receptacle, shown on a larger scale-than in Fig. 1. Fig 3j is a cross section taken on the line '3--3, Fi 2, viewed inthe direction of the arrow.

he saine reference characters indicatethe same parts in all the'v views.

Let the numeral 5 designate the cylindr4 of -an internalr combustion engine. Within this cylinder is a. piston 6 with which is connected a pitman 7 whose outer extremity, is connected with the wrist pin 8 of a crank-9 with which the operatingshaftzlO of theen'f gine is provided. Connected with theoylinder 5 is a casing 12 which incloses the pit man and the crank. This casing contains a Arranged in suitable proximity to the enl gine is a relatively small receptacle 16 whose lower extremity is connected to the lower extremity of the crank case by an open ended pipe 17, the receptacle 16 being so a1- ranged that its bottom is approximately in the same horizontal plane with the bottom of the crank case. In any event, the oil in the auxiliary receptacle will, of course, rise to the same level as that in the crank case.

Within the receptacle 16 are three sets of contacts arranged one above another. The members of the uppermost set of contacts are each designated 18 and consist of plates which are segmental in cross section and arranged on opposite sides of the receptacle in which they are stationary. These contacts are also insulated from the outer shell or casing 19 of the receptacle by an interposed layer 2O of insulating material. With these contacts, however, are respectively connected the inner extremities of the metal parts 21 and 22 of binding screws 23 and 24. The metal parts of these binding screws are insulated from the shell 19 of the casing by coverings 25 of insulatin material.

From the metal part o the binding screw 23 an electrical conductor 65 leads to a pole 26 of an electric source 27, from whose opposite pole 28 a conductor 29 leads to a point 30 of a conductor 31. This conductor 31 leads to a white light 32 and a red light 33.

From the white light a conductor 34 leads to the metal part of the binding screw 24.

Within the receptacle 16 1s a float 35 which is surrounded by a spring metal ring 36 which engages with contacts 18 when the oil 37 within the receptacle is of suicient height for the purpose. (See Fig. 2). Assuming that the float is in the position shown in Fig. 2 the circuit will be completed through the white light 32 by virtue of the circuit connections just described.

Below the contacts 18 and insulated therefrom are two other contacts 38 with which are connected the metal parts 39 and 40 of the binding screws 41 and' 42. Now, if it be assumed that the oil within the receptacle 16 has fallen so low that the metal ring 36 is disengaged from the contacts 18 and engages the contacts 38, the current may be sald to pass from the ole 28 ofv the battery 27 through the con uctor 29 to the point 30 of the conductor 31, and thence through the red light, whence it will pass through a conductor 43 to the metal part of the binding post 42 and thence throu h one of the contacts 38 and the ring 36 to t e other contact 38 and thence through the metal part 39 of the binding screw 41 and the short conductor 44 to the conductor and thence to the pole 26 of the battery, completing the circuit through the red li ht 33.

Again, if the oi continues to fall within the rece tacle 16 until the ring 36 of the float no onger engages the contacts 38 and is brought into engagement with the lower most set of contacts 45 of the receptacle, the

- red light will be extinguished `and the current will be short circuited from the magneto 46 by way of a conductor 47, a binding screw 48, a conductor 45, the metal ring 36, another conductor 45, a binding screw 49 and a conductor 50, to the ground 51. The other pole of the magneto is grounded by wire 52.

Normally, the current passes from one pole of the magneto through a wire 53 to the spark plug 54 and thence through the frameY of the machine and a wire 55 to the ground, as shown at 56. It is evident, however, that when the float is in the lowermost position in the receptacle 16 that the magneto current will be short circuited as just explained, since the current will take the easiest path to the ground.

From the foregoing description, it willfbe understood that the fluctuation of the oil within the receptacle 16 corresponds with the change of level of the oil in the crank case 12. It will also be understood that when the white light is burning, the oil in the crank case will be at the highest level indicated, 'or that designated in the drawing by the dotted line 13. Again, when the white light is extinguished and the red light is ignited, the oil in the crank case will be at the level indicated by the dotted line 14. Again, when the red light is extinguished and the oil has fallen so low in the receptacle 16 as to short-circuit the magneto current, the oil will also be at the level indicated by the numeral 15 in the crank case and consequently so low that the pitman and crank pin cannot reach it during the rotation of the operating shaft of the motor, hence provision is made for automatically stopping the engine when the oil has reached this level, since if the engine were allowed to continue operation, serious damage would result by reason of non-lubrication of the operating parts of the machine. v

In the event that the oat 35 is made of metal, and this is believed thoroughly practicable, it will be unnecessary that the s ring ring 36 which, as illustrated in the rawing, is divided as shown at 57, shall have its extremities in actual contact in order to complete the circuit through the various sets of contacts inthe receptacley 16. However, if

the fioat is made of insulating material, it will be understood that the extremities of the sprin ring must be in contact in order to proper y bridge the space between the individual members of the several sets of contacts.

It should also be ex lained that the construction is such that t e float and its sprin ring will readil follow the uctuations o the oil within e receptacle 16. It should also be explained that the oil 37 employed in the crank case and Vthe receptacle 16, is an insulator whereby the current can only pass between the binding screws connected with the two members of each set of contacts, when the float is in such position that the spring rin either alone or in conjunction with the oat, bridges the space in an electrical sense, between the contacts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is;

1. The combination with the oil-containing crank case of an internal combustion engine, of an auxiliary receptacle in communication with the crank case to allow the oil to flow freely to the receptacle and maintain the same level therein asin the crank case, the receptacle having contact plates mounted thereln uion opposite sides, a circuit in which sai contacts are located, a float within the receptacle and arran ed to electrically bridge the contacts when t e oil is at a predetermined level, and means 1ocated in the circuit for automatically indieating the changes of the oil level in the auxiliary rece tacle and the crank case.

2. The com ination with an oil-containing crank case of an internal combustion engine, of an auxiliary receptacle in communication with the crank case to allow the oil to freely enter the rece tacle, a number i of sets of spaced electrica contacts in the receptacle, circuits in which the sets of conbeyond its tacts are respectively located, translating devices located in the respective circults, a Hoat located within the receptacle and means surroundin the periphery of sald float for electrical y brid ng the space between the individual mem ers of the several sets of contacts as the oil level luctuates.

3. The combination with the oil-containing crankp case of an internal combustion engine, of an auxiliary receptacle in communication with the crank case to allow the oil to ilow freely to the receptacle and maintain the same level therein as in the crank case, the rece tacle having contact plates mounted thereln upon its slde, a circuit in which said contacts are located, a float within the receptacle and arran ed to electrically bridge the contacts when t e oil is at a predetermined level, and means located in the circuit for automatically indicating the changes of the oil level in the auxiliary receptacle and the crank case.

4. The combination with an oil-containing crank case of an internal combustion engine, of an auxiliary receptacle in communication with the crank case to allow the oil to freely enter the receptacle, a number of sets of spaced electrical contacts in the receptacle, clrcuits in which the sets of contacts are respectively located, translating devices located in the respective circuits, a float located within the rece tacle, and means mounted on said float and) projecting peri hery for bridging the space between the individual members of the several sets of contacts as the oil level luctuates.

In testimon whereof I aix my signature in presence o two witnesses.

ROY J. BRADBURY.

Witnesses:

MAzn KIRBY A. EBERT OlnmN. 

